Clash of the Titans

It's the clash of the year. Come Diwali on October 28, Karan Johar's ode to romance Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and Ajay Devgn's slick actioner Shivaay will premiere simultaneously. Already, bets are on: which one will emerge the winner at the box office hustings?
Now, there's no reason why both films cannot appeal separately to audiences. However, of late, it has become the trade's - and media's - favourite sport to make odious comparisons, exacerbating the unhealthy rivalry that has become the norm in show business. It doesn't help that Johar and Devgn have nursed acrimonious differences for more than a decade now.
The standoff between the affable Johar and the retentive Devgn even took an ugly turn on social media this month. Fortunately, the incredible allegations against Johar of having 'bribed' a self-styled critic to put down Devgn fizzled out. The merits (or the lack of them) in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and Shivaay should be allowed to speak for themselves.
Never - in my waking memory, at least - has the film fraternity been so vehemently at daggers. Indeed, a remix of the Sangam classic, Dost dost na raha, could be the theme song of Bollywood right now. Now you may well ask: can friends truly exist within the filmmaking folds? Superficial ones, yes - but when it comes to the nitty gritty, absolutely not. Because, like it or not, it's the survival of the fittest in the moviemaking jungle.
Parallel film releases of high-cost productions on the same Friday are bad news, especially since the advent of multiplexes over a decade ago. The aim is to cash in on the opening weekend by releasing a film on as many screens across the nation and overseas.
In the past, Ajay Devgn has clashed with the all-powerful Yash Raj film production banner. His Son of Sardar had to take on the stalwart Yash Chopra's swan song, Jab Tak Hai Jaan. If he was miffed, he expressed it by taking Yash Raj to court on charges of unfair trade practices. Nothing came of the legal case levelled by Devgn, but it was apparent that he felt victimised. As expected, both films suffered financially, since the audience had to choose one over the other for their weekend quota of entertainment.
Wisely, Shah Rukh Khan postponed the release of Raees this year on July 5, close to the auspicious Eid holiday that had already been earmarked for Salman Khan's Sultan. That Salman has stronger commercial clout was, in a way, acknowledged by SRK, who has now reserved January 26, 2017 for the opening of his gangster thriller.
However, not so long ago, the business-savvy SRK was super-confident that his rom-com Dilwale could take on Sanjay Leela Bhansali's magnum opus Bajirao Mastani. The two biggies warred for the audience's wallet on December 24 last year. At the outset, Dilwale recorded higher ticket sales but to everyone's surprise, Bajirao Mastani emerged the winner, following glowing reviews and positive word-of-mouth. Ironically, SRK's confidence didn't pay off here as it had previously on November 9, 2007, when his feel-good musical Om Shanti Om had pounded Bhansali's stylised Saawariya to pulp.
Trade pundits have been constantly voicing cautionary words that clashes should and can be avoided. On the flip side, given the deadly combination of inflated egos and the fact that Bollywood production output continues to be more prolific than ever before, perhaps the clashes are endemic.
It wasn't always like this. Rewind to instances of overlapping releases in the past, and there's enough evidence to affirm that a clash need not result in an acrimonious slug-out. Way back in 1961, the Shammi Kapoor-Saira Banu love story Junglee premiered on the same day as Dev Anand and Asha Parekh's Jab Pyar Kisise Hota Hai, which belonged to the same genre. Although the latter was made in black-and-white and the former in eye-caressing colour, both films turned out to be blockbusters. In the same vein, the clash of Dil versus Ghayal (June 18, 1990) and Lagaan versus Gadar (June 15, 2001), didn't eat into the other's cash collections.
Those were more sedate times. Filmmakers would mind their own business without getting paranoid about the successes of others. When Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and Shivaay arrive next month, you can be sure that the volley of comparisons will once again pollute the air. To which you can only say, peace ho, guys. Make cinema, not war.
wknd@khaleejtimes.com